


elsewhere, on fire

by spideywhiteys



Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Firefighter Raidou, Gen, Magic, Magic Realism, genma is only mentioned but i love him, genrai if you squint, i do not know anything about being a firefighter so this is probably wildly inaccurate to procedure, i guess?, if u REALLY want it badly enough, modern au?, no romance but also like, raidou needs a vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:35:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideywhiteys/pseuds/spideywhiteys
Summary: Raidou is a firefighter. He fights fires. Even mystical, living blue fires that can't possibly be real. ...He should have taken the day off.
Series: 365 Days of Naruto AUs [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086938
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	elsewhere, on fire

**Author's Note:**

> DAY 5: Firefighter AU / Raidou + Kokuo

This is not a normal fire. Raidou has been doing this job for the past decade and he’s seen every manner of destructive wrath before. Against the backdrop of an indigo sky, flames the color of the deepest cerulean reach up for the moon. Ravenous, they engulf and devour the apartment complex with frightening speed. 

They suspect an accelerant, on top of the most likely culprit of the initial explosion and blue tint to the flames—gas. The world is painted in shades of cobalt, azure, lapis; the ocean and sky and sapphire gemstones. It’s glittering and alive, like nothing Raidou has ever seen before.

Marveling at the sight isn’t what his job is, however. He’s here to work, here to put out that writhing, discolored fire. Business is business and Raidou is quite serious when it comes to his job and work performance. Genma can attest to that.

(He hasn’t had a vacation in a while. Obsessed with his work, some would say.  _ Genma _ would say. Genma, who can always be found with a toothpick between his teeth, who can cook the best omelet Raidou has ever tasted, who sings so loudly in the car even though he can’t carry a tune.  _ Take a vacation with me, Raidou. _ )

Most of the occupants of the complex have already been accounted for. There’s three missing, two from apartment 2C and one from 5F. His suit is heavy and sweltering, its presence familiar. His great weapon in battle, his magic cloak, his shield. He puts trust in his fellow firefighters and braves the building in the direction of suite 5F.

It’s the farthest away, the one that they hold the lowest expectations for. With the speed of the fire, the probable cause and the amount of smoke replacing the breathable air, it’s likely it won’t be survivors he finds, but bodies. Not that he’d ever act upon such assumptions, because that’s just what they are. Assumptions. Not fact. 

He moves up the stairwell, the heavy weight of his footsteps drowned out by the roar of the flames. Sweat coats every inch of his skin, soaking him as if he were standing under the spray of a shower head. He keeps the structural details in mind when he makes it to the fifth level.

There’s no one in the entirety of the stairwell. No one in the hall. He hopes that the one in 5F was just out for the night. He hopes for a lot of things. Fire is no place for hope.

Down the hall he goes, passing blackened doors with shiny numbers hammered into the frames. Step by step by step. He feels the weight of possibility, the weight of anticipation. He braces for anything.

(This won’t be his first time seeing a dead body, if one lays on the other side of the door to 5F.)

Heartbeat in his ears, Raidou swings his axe into the door, splintering wood. He smashes down on the handle under it breaks and his arms ache just a little—

The door opens with a solid shove. There’s no backlash of fire, no sudden burst of smoke in his face. The apartment is small, as expected from this kind of place. He sees a living room with a well worn couch and a flatscreen TV—the most expensive looking item in clear view. It’s nice, looks like the one he and Genma have in their own apartment.

There is suspiciously little fire, just the overwhelmingly acrid tang of soot and ash and destruction. It sticks to the back of his throat and will find a home in every cell of his skin for days, no matter how many showers he takes.

Even the sounds of the fire are dim here, the broken door creaking back towards the frame behind him. He glances around, looking for any sign of life or presence. He has a job here, and it doesn’t include wasting time on observations when lives could be at stake. He’s learned a lot over the past decade in this line of work, and  _ prioritizing  _ is one of those things.

“ANYONE HERE?” He calls out, waiting just a brief moment. There’s no immediate response.

His footsteps are thunderous in the room. They leave trails of black ash across the white throw carpet. He moves from the living room to the kitchen to the little hall, peering down for any fallen bodies. There are only two rooms in the hall. An empty bathroom and a bedroom—the door shut. From the slight crack at the bottom shines a whitish light, flickering every few seconds, as if someone is watching TV with the lights off. 

Raidou wastes no time in breaking the door down. If it’s a bedroom, there should be a window. If there’s a window and a person, that means he can signal the other firefighters to raise the ladder to their position. He’s not risking a descent back into that fiery hell with a passenger. 

It’s a bedroom. With a window.

Like he’d thought, the lights are off. But there’s no TV. In the center, just a step away from the unmade bed, is a glowing disk. It spirals in space like water swirling down a drain, easily his height in size. There is no explanation that comes to mind. He briefly thinks  _ aliens, _ before a flicker on the….screen? Portal? Whatever it is, the silvery, whirling glow clears abruptly.

“Who are you?”

There’s a creature within. White as snow, with no physical appearance Raidou can link to any animal on earth. And it speaks.

“Um, Namiashi Raidou,” He replies dumbly. Then, with nothing better to say, “Are you...uh, the resident of suite 5F?”

The creature thinks for a moment. “No, I’m not. I am called Kokuo. Why are you dressed like that?”

“It’s, uh—” Wow, he’s really just doing this, huh. “It’s my bunker gear. I’m a firefighter. There’s a fire.” He elaborates pointlessly. Helplessly.

“A fire? Oh dear…I’m sorry to say, but I believe my sister to be responsible.” Kokuo replies, their tone polite.

“Your...sister?” Raidou frowns, “A lot of people just lost their homes. This is a serious offense.”

He says to the unknown creature in a floating mirror. What is his life right now? He should have gone to 2C. Under his feet, the floor groans. The smell of smoke grows thicker, more pungent. From the hall he here’s a splintering crash and the cry of flames entering from the entrance. 

“Yes, I apologize for her behavior. This wasn’t our intention.” Kokuo shifts, their frame moving slightly closer to the mirror-thing. Their eyes are teal, rimmed with deep red furrows, and more intelligent than any animal. “It seems as though you’re in danger.”

Raidou turns away, looking out to the rest of the apartment. The fire has consumed the front. The stairwell is probably completely ruined and unlikely to hold his weight. He’ll have to see if the window has a fire escape, or call for the ladder. “Damn…”

“I’ll begin repaying for my sister’s mistake by rescuing you.”

Raidou pauses. “What?”

He turns back to Kokuo. The mirror-portal begins to swirl, light growing and brightening, until the room is completely lit. It shines over him, burning his dark eyes. Even when he squeezes them shut, he sees it behind his eyelids.

“What are you doing—”

There’s a feeling. A feeling he can’t explain. Like he’s sliding in his own skin. Like every muscle has involuntarily tensed. The air clears in his next breath, smelling of greenery and dirt. He hears birdcalls and the singing of insects.

He opens his eyes.

Kokuo looks down at him, bigger than a jumbo jet, their breath like a stiff breeze. He’s not in the apartment anymore.

_ I should have taken that vacation. _

**Author's Note:**

> Follow / Support me on [Tumblr](https://spideyfoof.tumblr.com/) and let me know if you'd like to see more of this AU!


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